My knees started bothering me after row class last Thursday. I described the feeling as “crunchy.” It wasn’t quite pain, but something wasn’t right in there. My left kneecap felt a little…loose. I, of course, trained through it. Friday’s long run: did it. Saturday’s long bike: did it. Sunday’s stadium Death Race workout: did it. When Monday rolled around, the pain in my knee set it, seeming to tell me, “Okay, if the crunching isn’t getting your attention, we’ll try it a different way.” Still, it wasn’t pain as much as soreness. I’ve had runner’s knee before. I switched from pavement to trails. Problem solved. When it happened again, I replaced my way-over-mileage shoes. Problem solved again. But right now, I’m training on trails with shoes bought late last year. I think this pain must be from just doing too much. My first run-in with a sports injury left me out for nearly 3 months while I nursed a hurt ankle. I don’t think it was the injury that did me in, but my continued training despite it. I hate being out of the game. Next time I hurt my ankle, I nursed that thing like a baby bird on the cuspise of death. I took NSAIDs, I iced every time I was off my feet, I stayed off my feet, I took OFF (a word I seldom use) for a full week and eased back into it the following week. Results? Hardly any time lost in training. So, as hard as it is for me, I’m trying to take it easy this week.

Monday:

PT – Tabata.

Swim instruction with Revolutions Tri Coaching – Ann said that I have all the mechanisms of a strong stroke (reach, moving the water, rotation, follow through…) but that for some reason I wasn’t getting the forward movement that I should be. It was finally settled that I needed to work on my glide (I was doing lots of hard work but didn’t stop to reap the benefits of that work) and pulling my whole body together in a dance-like motion, letting my torso lead the stroke and taking my arms along for the ride.

Tuesday:

Long swim – Did 1750 meters of the normal sets, focusing on gliding and dancing 🙂

Skipped – Bike

Wednesday:

PT – Strength and endurance. A lot of bench work.

Run – Just a short 6 miles, no harm to the knees, right? By the time Ricky and I were done with PT, the bottom had fallen out. It was pouring outside but we went for our run anyway…we’re training for the Death Race after all, and won’t be guaranteed sunny, warm weather. Ricky was in his element, running around and jumping in every puddle gleefully like a 6-year old. I was glumly avoiding the puddles. I was cold and wet. Ricky made sure that I was soaked within the first 10 minutes, not that he needed much help as we were running in a hurricane. About 20 minutes later, I was warmed up and we started having some fun. We belly crawled through giant puddles, Ricky duck-walked and I bear-crawled (knees refused to duck-walk) up small rivers coming down the trails, we clawed through mud and though the rain let up after the first 3 miles, we enjoyed being the only 2 on the trails. The last sprint to the finish did me in and my knees really started to scream. “Enough!” they said, “This is no way to treat your friends.” I went home and iced the worst one.

Skipped – Sledgehammer slams on the tire

Today:

Skipped – Row Class

Skipped – Short swim (elbow is bothering me too. What’s going on?)

Skipped – Bike intervals

I bought a different brand of glucosamine. I had been taking 2-4 times the recommended dose of my veggie glucos but that’s not helping too much. I got a triple strength formula and hope the magic of the shellfish will empower my joints.

I also bought some KT Tape. I’ll take the rest of the week as easy as is possible for me, but I’m hoping the added support of the tape on my knees will let me train even with the soreness.

Everyone has been screaming the “overtrain” word at me. It’s hard being my own coach. I know my goals and what I can do, but not necessarily was is good for me and when to back off. It also doesn’t help that I get conflicting advice from my training sources. Some say to listen to your body and take time off or do easy workouts when you’re tired. Others say that consistency is the key to racing well; even if you are having an off day, you should still do your scheduled workout. So I’ve started scheduling hard and easy workouts in my week. I think part of the problem was that I was making every workout hard even though they may have been shorter in duration. I probably have been adding too many hours too fast and will back off and tune into my body for a few weeks to prevent having a full-blown problem and having to take months off.

I just need to keep reminding myself that it’s a few weeks here or a few months later. A few weeks or a few months. A few weeks or a few months. It probably wouldn’t hurt if you reminded me too when you see me next…

Advertisements

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

About Megan

I live and work with dogs in Tallahassee, Fl. My loves are in this order: 1. Dogs 2. Food 3. Coffee 4. Endurance Sports